Comedy Central Is Not Moving Forward with Jessica Williams and Naomi Ekperigin’s Pilot

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Ahead of the release of her Netflix film The Incredible Jessica James, The New York Times has a great new interview with Jessica Williams out today where she looks back on her days as a Daily Show correspondent and her decision to leave the show to try new things. “I know what I’d be incredible at, and I know what I wouldn’t be as great at,” she said on the decision. “I didn’t want to insert myself into that narrative to please everybody else. I was listening to my heart and making sure I honored what I was truly excellent at.” The interview also includes some high praise from Jon Stewart:

“I hate to sound cliché,” Mr. Stewart said, “but some people have it, and it was so apparent from the tape we had on Jessica. I can’t even talk about it without going into my old Jewish man agent voice. She made great choices, surprising choices. Thirty seconds in, we were trying to figure out how to get in touch with her. We couldn’t believe it when we found out she was still in school!”

There’s also an update on the scripted Comedy Central pilot Williams was working on with Naomi Ekperigin last year and some hints about a new project, “possibly for television,” that she’s working on with Incredible Jessica James writer/director Jim Strouse:

Comedy Central confirmed it is no longer moving forward with a scripted series that Ms. Williams started developing for the network before she announced her “Daily Show” departure. Ms. Williams said Comedy Central’s support “has meant the world to me,” adding, “I hope we can work together in the future.”

Already, she and Mr. Strouse have started discussing a new collaboration, possibly for television, which he would write and in which she would star.

No studios or broadcasters were mentioned, and Mr. Strouse only loosely described their conversations as centering around “a character we can live with for longer, in a story that doesn’t end in an hour and a half.”